Most of our readers know the radio show BackStory.This week, its eclectic “sister” show from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, With Good Reason, has posted the audio for an early American episode. “Red Ink” features Drew Lopenzina on Native American literacy, Turk McCleskey on law in the Virginia frontier, and Bonnie Gordon and Emily Gale on the music of early America.

When did America see its first St. Patrick’s Day parade? The N-YHS has a contender.

Dael Norwood, current postdoctoral fellow at the New York Historical Society, writes on the society’s blog about the Empress of China, “a small ship with big ambitions.”

We have a new pope (side note: I was at the gym while CNN was playing, and oh man did CNN delve deeply into the methods necessary to produce white and black smoke). Tim Lacy at S-USIH writes about how Americans have (or haven’t) responded to new popes.

What is “The Junto?”

The Junto is a group blog made up of junior early Americanists—graduate students and junior faculty—dedicated to providing content of general interest to other early Americanists and those interested in early American history, as well as a forum for discussion of relevant historical and academic topics.